Seed Banks, Entropy and Gaia
Year: 2019
Type: preprint
Abstract: In this paper we discuss the Gaia hypothesis and the idea of sequential selection. Building on previous work using the Tangled Nature Model of co-evolution we elaborate on Gaia as an example of an entropic hierarchy. We argue that sequential selection together with a reservoir of diversity acting as a `memory' allows cumulative growth and improvement of the Gaian system over time. We discuss three ways diversity reservoirs are realised in practice: the microbial seed bank, climate refugia and lateral gene transfer and finally we simulate the effect of changing the reservoir size.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Rudy Arthur
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2965857217